Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

i am not anti-religious, but i will often announce myself as an atheist to "explain" myself to those who do not understand how a nice girl like me does not believe in something.

actually i do believe that we are not just our bodies, but my view of how it all comes together does not jibe with the conventional religious views. when speaking, i often use words and phrases that are considered religious for lack of a more understandable way to express my hopes and feelings in certain situations - "bless him", "you are in my prayers", "thank God". the sentiment behind them, certainly i do mean to express.

i feel that however one finds solace and peace... true peace, not anesthetizing oneself with substances or addictive behaviors... is just fine by me. and i am not going to tell you how to find yours.

hope we all behave like ladies and gentlemen, so that this wonderful discussion may continue as well.

best to you,
anita.

"do the best that you can in the place where you are, and be kind."
--- scott nearing

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteFreefreq
I have always wondered why the Bible never mentions dinasors......Im religous but have always wondered about that.

My reply here is TOTALLY off topic sorry but its what I thought of when Science was mentioned here.

Didn't Noah have two dinosaurs on the Ark? I mean two of each species of dinosaurs?

Why does the bible say that pi has a value of 3. Even the ancient Egyptians had a better approximation. Why do believers think that the bible is the perfect book free of any errors when it contains many errors. Why is there no information in the bible that was not already known to ancient man? No mention that the earth is roundish or that the earth orbits the sun or that the sun is a star just like the ones seen at night only closer.

Does it sound like it was written by an all seeing all knowing god?

The ten commandments, the ten most important rules for man to follow, are pretty lame. Only two have made it into our modern law. Don't murder and don't steal. Did god consider rape and slavery and domestic violence OK? According to the bible, Yes.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Here is your answer straight from the people who brought you the Creation Museum in Kentucky. The Earth is only 6000 years old and yes, the dinosaurs were on the ark along with all of the other animals.

The story we have all heard from movies, television, newspapers, and most magazines and textbooks is that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. According to evolutionists, the dinosaurs “ruled the Earth” for 140 million years, dying out about 65 million years ago. However, scientists do not dig up anything labeled with those ages. They only uncover dead dinosaurs (i.e., their bones), and their bones do not have labels attached telling how old they are. The idea of millions of years of evolution is just the evolutionists’ story about the past. No scientist was there to see the dinosaurs live through this supposed dinosaur age. In fact, there is no proof whatsoever that the world and its fossil layers are millions of years old. No scientist observed dinosaurs die. Scientists only find the bones in the here and now, and because many of them are evolutionists, they try to fit the story of the dinosaurs into their view.

Other scientists, called creation scientists, have a different idea about when dinosaurs lived. They believe they can solve any of the supposed dinosaur mysteries and show how the evidence fits wonderfully with their ideas about the past, beliefs that come from the Bible.

The Bible, God’s very special book (or collection of books, really), claims that each writer was supernaturally inspired to write exactly what the Creator of all things wanted him to write down for us so that we can know where we (and dinosaurs) came from, why we are here, and what our future will be. The first book in the Bible—Genesis—teaches us many things about how the universe and life came into existence. Genesis tells us that God created everything—the Earth, stars, sun, moon, plants, animals, and the first two people.

Although the Bible does not tell us exactly how long ago it was that God made the world and its creatures, we can make a good estimate of the date of creation by reading through the Bible and noting some interesting passages:
1.
God made everything in six days. He did this, by the way, to set a pattern for mankind, which has become our seven day week (as described in Exodus 20:11). God worked for six days and rested for one, as a model for us. Furthermore, Bible scholars will tell you that the Hebrew word for day used in Genesis 1, can only mean an ordinary day in this context.

2.
We are told God created the first man and woman—Adam and Eve—on Day Six. Many facts about when their children and their children’s children were born are given in Genesis. These genealogies are recorded throughout the Old Testament, up until the time of Christ. They certainly were not chronologies lasting millions of years.

As you add up all of the dates, and accepting that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to Earth almost 2000 years ago, we come to the conclusion that the creation of the Earth and animals (including the dinosaurs) occurred only thousands of years ago (perhaps only 6000!), not millions of years. Thus, if the Bible is right (and it is!), dinosaurs must have lived within the past thousands of years.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteNeil
ChanelCing:
There are no threads about any other religion on this board, so deleting a thread about athiesm is in keeping with overall intent and theme of the board.

It is worth remembering that this board is owned by a moving/resource business (VI Now). Flame wars between Buddhists and Rastafarians will chase away customers, and I respect that.

I have a little different take on this. There have been a number of threads asking about churches. They don't seem to cause the same stir because the atheists don't jump in and start commenting on the church threads. If the theists would stay out of the atheists threads they would be ok. We have not started a single atheist thread that hasn't been trashed by the theists. The theist threads have not been trashed by the atheists.

We had an atheist discussion thread that went on from June 2009 until September 2009.
[www.vimovingcenter.com]
It was only closed after Lizard and trw got into heated personal attacks. trw was then asked to leave the forum. Why was Lizard even discussing atheism, it obviously bothered him.
I have never been asked by the owner of this forum to not discuss atheism despite what Neil says. Everything would be cool if the theists would just leave us alone. Theists seem to be drawn to atheist discussions like moths to a flame.

Check out this thread. Someone started a theist thread. A few of us atheists chimed in and were asked to leave. We did. We moved to an atheist thread which was then trashed by the theists.
[www.vimovingcenter.com]

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

First of all, I am on your team. I find religion and the worship of "Gods" disturbing. I think I understand why people invented religion and try to sell it to others. I have long been alarmed at the wars and hatred and destruction that churches and religion have promoted through out history. However, I will always defend the right to religion that some people seem to need. (As long as they don't require my belief)

However, you seem to be overreacting in your defense of atheism. Hey ,the point is that no rational person really knows if there is a god or not.
We know that organized religion has done more harm than good in the world. So relax and enjoy our freedom from religion...

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteNeil
ChanelCing:
There are no threads about any other religion on this board, so deleting a thread about athiesm is in keeping with overall intent and theme of the board.

It is worth remembering that this board is owned by a moving/resource business (VI Now). Flame wars between Buddhists and Rastafarians will chase away customers, and I respect that.

I was not about to look up a bunch of threads but that was obviously a lie because there was one in the past few days. SOmeone was asking about churches to take his/her parents.

Anyway I was not trying to start debates or arguments when I started this thread. I just thought it was odd that two threds mentioning atheism disapeared.

I also want to mention that some displays of religion that bothered me when I moved to Puerto Rico I have now accepted. It took Puerto Rican atheists to point out how it was a cultural thing. I have traveled to over 70 countries and lived on 4 continets and I would never be offended by relgious things in developping countries when I am on their land. So when I moved to PR I had to realize it was cultural and not necessaily religious.

By the way one of my closest friends here in PR is a mormon. Him and his wife and there two kids moved here to do the same program, the second degree Bachelors in Nursing. They moved here with a lesbian couple and one of the women is also in my program. I only mention sexual orientation because I have never had a Mormon friend before. Especially one who is very religious and involved with the church and even performs baptims and stuff. He knows I am an atheist and it is a non issue. Him and I obviously don't discuss religion or lack of religion and we are very good friends.

QuoteBombi
Celebrate the stuff we do share in common and our diversity. Tolerate our differences.
One Love is plying quietly in the background

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteMs Information
However, you seem to be overreacting in your defense of atheism. Hey ,the point is that no rational person really knows if there is a god or not.
We know that organized religion has done more harm than good in the world. So relax and enjoy our freedom from religion...

Maybe I do get caught up in these discussions but it is an area that concerns me. You say that no rational person knows if there is a god or not, maybe so. No rational person knows if there is a tooth fairy or not either. I would have the same reaction if someone insisted on putting "one nation under the tooth fairy" in our pledge of allegiance. I guess you have just become desensitized to nonsense.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan

I do not think that we should be expected to believe any wild claim without evidence, just because it cannot be disproved. The bottom line is that you cannot disprove things that don't exist. If you think you can then please disprove that Zeus exists.

Now it would be a different thing if the people who believe in these unsupported claims simply believed in them but kept them to themselves. They do not. They put their unsupported claims on our money, in our pledge and force them into our nation's politics. Have you noticed how all of the republican candidates are fighting to prove which one is the most religious. Who is the most anti-gay segment of our society? Why are they against equal rights for such a large segment of our society? Religion is not harmless. It is divisive.

For over thirty years I was a quiet moderate agnostic/atheist. Over the past 15 years I have decided to become more outspoken and to defend reason and the scientific method as the best means for acquiring knowledge and determining what is true.

Why should we actively push back on religion? Listen to this short video from TED, ideas worth sharing!
[www.ted.com]

We do not yet have freedom from religion, we are still fighting for it! Do you think that an atheist could be elected President? Why not? How many atheists are serving in congress? One. Non-theists make up 16% of the population.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteNeil
There is a HUGE difference between someone ASKING a RELOCATION BOARD about WHERE to take their parents to church, and someone posting long comments about their personal faith or lack thereof.

I posted several links above. One to an atheist thread that I started. The title of the thread was "Atheism in the USVI". Clearly labeled "Atheism". The stated purpose in the first post was:
"I have seen many posts asking about churches in the VI, there sure are plenty of them! I was wondering if there are any out of the closet atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, naturists, etc in the VI."

Things were going great, many freethinkers jumping in. Then the theists came. Neil being one of the first. He did not like the atheist thread. I pointed out to him:
"I find it amusing that I started this thread because a christian complained about my atheist sig. So this thread is clearly labeled "Atheism" and yet the Christians even come here to complain. It would be like me going into a thread asking about christian churches and asking them why they would want to waste their time going to church. I'm sure the Christians on that thread would complain. That is part of the problem in this country, the Christians feel privileged."

I posted a link to the theism thread which dannyboy started above. It was a discussion started for people to discuss why they believe in god. Many people jumped in and talked about their faith. No one including Neil ever suggested that that thread be stopped. Not a single complaint by Neil that believers should not discuss their faith.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteNeil
ChanelCing:
There are no threads about any other religion on this board, so deleting a thread about athiesm is in keeping with overall intent and theme of the board.

It is worth remembering that this board is owned by a moving/resource business (VI Now). Flame wars between Buddhists and Rastafarians will chase away customers, and I respect that.

I was not about to look up a bunch of threads but that was obviously a lie because there was one in the past few days. SOmeone was asking about churches to take his/her parents.

Anyway I was not trying to start debates or arguments when I started this thread. I just thought it was odd that two threds mentioning atheism disapeared.

"a lie" ChanelCing ?? That's the kind of stupid language that sets these threads on fire.

There is a HUGE difference between someone ASKING a RELOCATION BOARD about WHERE to take their parents to church, and someone posting long comments about their personal faith or lack thereof.

Wow you are the first person that really is pissing me off. Yes you lied because there are tons of threads about churces and what not. And I did not post "long comments about their personal faith or lack thereof" as you wrote. I asked why the atheist posts were being deleted.

Then I said it is nice to meet like minds. And yes like others pointed out on the deleted threads that knowing there are other atheists is very relevant to a relocation. It is very relevant to know I will not be alone. That is very important to know before moving somewhere.

And my name is ChanelCinq not ChanelCing. I don't know what cing means but cinq is the number 5 in French so I am Chanel #5.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Neil, I agree with you whole heartedly. His posts are offensive to me. But to even say this contributes to the vitriolic message and pushes the post to the top. Which, I notice, he does anyway when no one replies for a while....

Dear visitors/residents: a great church to attend on St. Croix is Lord God of Sabaoth in downtown Christiansted. It gives a nice pep and soul to the stoic Lutheran midwestern services I was used to. Plus it has a lot of historic items inside. I love the old photo of the pastor in a pith helmet!

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Quotemminstx
Neil, I agree with you whole heartedly. His posts are offensive to me. But to even say this contributes to the vitriolic message and pushes the post to the top. Which, I notice, he does anyway when no one replies for a while....

Dear visitors/residents: a great church to attend on St. Croix is Lord God of Sabaoth in downtown Christiansted. It gives a nice pep and soul to the stoic Lutheran midwestern services I was used to. Plus it has a lot of historic items inside. I love the old photo of the pastor in a pith helmet!

Why is it necessary to lie? Where did I post to drive this thread to the top when no one replied? Please support this claim with an example.

And I guess in your opinion atheists should not be offended when you come on to a thread asking about atheism and start posting church related matters. How arrogant can you get?

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Is atheism a belief? Like, do atheists believe there is no god? Is atheism the opposite of believing in god?

What if you simply don't care? Like could give a crap if there is a god or not, because the issue simply has no bearing what so ever on anything in your life? Then what are you?

Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of a deity, so yes atheists believe there is no god.

As to what you are, do you believe that a god exists? If your answer is yes then you are a theist. If your answer is no then you are an atheist. If you have not given the question any thought then you are undecided.

I suspect that you are an atheist or undecided.

If you are a theist then you are most likely a deist. If not you would probably give a crap about whether god exists. A deist believes in a creator but believes that the creator set things in motion and then disappeared. To the deist there is no heaven or hell, the creator does not observe and judge anyone nor does he expect to be worshiped or prayed to. To the deist the religious holy books are just books. Deist believe in leading a moral life. This is my understanding of deism, if there is a deist on this forum they should correct me.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

You're right. An atheist totally rejects the concept of God in any way, shape or form. An agnostic is skeptical about the existence of God, believes the concept impossible to know but isn't as adamant about it as a true atheist.

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Quotemminstx
...Dear visitors/residents: a great church to attend on St. Croix is ...

Dear visitors/residents: a great curch to attend on St. Croix is... Happy hour at Cheseburgers! You are bound for a moving experiance of fellowship after pastor Zuka fills your good to go cup with the spirit of the rum!

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

QuoteIslandHopsDear visitors/residents: a great curch to attend on St. Croix is... Happy hour at Cheseburgers! You are bound for a moving experiance of fellowship after pastor Zuka fills your good to go cup with the spirit of the rum!

And I assume the sacramental cheeseburgers are rather more substantial than wafer thin?

Re: Against TOS to post about atheism????? PLease explain!

Quotemminstx
...Dear visitors/residents: a great church to attend on St. Croix is ...

Dear visitors/residents: a great curch to attend on St. Croix is... Happy hour at Cheseburgers! You are bound for a moving experiance of fellowship after pastor Zuka fills your good to go cup with the spirit of the rum!

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